When I was 39 I began the process of creating breathe books. I was inspired while standing in the (now- closed) Bodhi Tree Bookstore in West Hollywood, California. I was in front of the reincarnation section and it hit me that I could have a bookstore with a reincarnation section! Thus the idea for breathe books was born, which luckily has consumed my forties!

I opened breathe books, in October 2004 when I was 41 years old, to amazing success! The bookstore was a hit from day one which was thrilling, exciting and exhausting and sometimes daunting. While I had support from a few friends, opening breathe was pretty much a solitary effort which I can now see was a major theme in my life. I was always determined to make things happen on my own. That way the success or failure was mine and mine alone. Much of my life has been spent this way.

But breathe books taught me, among other things, that accepting help is a good thing. That one does not have to go it alone all the time. And one does not have to compromise their soul to collaborate! This I have learned…

At the age of 44 I went to The Chopra Center in California (a lot of good things happen in CA!) and began my Ayurvedic journey. A week-long stay there resulted in a 50 pound-weight loss and the beginning of a journey through this ancient Indian system of health that has now become my passion and a significant portion of my livelihood.

At the age of 45 (December 6, 2008 to be exact) a man walked into my bookstore. Not an extraordinary fact on a
regular day. But this man had a spark I had never seen before in a person. And we chatted and chatted and I thought oh I could talk to (and look at!) this man for ever! One year later to the date, after enjoying the Mayor’s Christmas  Parade in Hampden, Larry Bohlen asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. From the day we met our future together was inevitable. We got married on September 26, 2010.

On December 30, 2010, a friend walked into breathe books carrying the most adorable puppy in her arms. Me (not {yet} a dog person) said – oh let me me hold her for just a minute…and that was that! Larry and I adopted “Speckles” on January 2, 2011 and our life raising a puppy began. We soon renamed her Ellananda Shakti Weis-Bohlen – Ella for short! To say I’m a crazy dog-lady now is a massive understatement!

So there I was, 47 years old, basking in the love of a husband, a wonderful marriage, and a beautiful dog, never knowing that any of this was even possible. I had no idea how much love one could have in their house, in their heart. It still astonishes me. Brings me to tears, even…

48 and 49 have continued to bring unexpected love to our home. Now we have Shadow, my mother-in-law’s dog, living with us. She and Ella are best friends and we have twice as much doggy love to go around!

At 49 and a half I decided that we really needed to expand breathe books in order for it to thrive and be around for a very long time. In addition to books, providing people with healthy, delicious food has become increasingly important to me. So the idea for breathe bookstore cafe was born. Working together with Larry to create a business and financial plan, we’ve been able to raise nearly $150,000 to make this idea a reality. In our nine years of being part of the Baltimore community, so many of you believe in us and our mission that you are supporting our efforts to bring you vegetarian, vegan, gluten free and Ayurvedic foods! We hope to be open by the end of May.

I will be about a month into my fifties by then! And I have no idea what amazing adventures await me. All I know is that I’ve never felt better. I think I look better too! I’ve never been more comfortable with myself inside and out. I certainly have a heart filled to the brim with love and joy. I’m deeply humbled by all I have learned through my meditation, Ayurvedic and yoga practices, and all I have learned from my customers. While I have few close friends, I know and love thousands of people around the world! My close friends are dear to me. My mother is healthy and my sisters are fine.

So here’s to 50! I’m open to all the possibilities and look forward to 50 more years of great health, fun, joy, love and adventure. Abundance in all areas of our lives. Larry has shown me a world I didn’t even know was possible. Such deep love and commitment. I highly recommend this marriage thing! It’s more profound than I could have imagined. No matter what age you are, I hope you are able to share love and joy with all the beings in your world.

Love to all of you!

Susan

http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs009/1101497121160/archive/1110434387659.html

At our Town Hall meeting about future possibilities for breathe books, many folks told me about their passion and love for the store and its’ programs. It was overwhelming and a little embarrassing, but at the end of the day, it was empowering. Many great ideas flowed out of the group brainstorm.

Stay tuned for new thoughts and directions, but at the same time, keeping the best of breathe books and doing it even better! Thank you all so much for your input — keep it coming!

Now we move full steam ahead with many amazing events this Fall. Meir Schneider expands on his previous standing-room only visit to breathe with a weekend workshop teaching Healing Through Self-Movement designed to strengthen and improve vision. Space is limited! Please call soon to hold your space (September 17 &18)

And very very very big…Mike Dooley (tut.com) is coming on October 2! Please sign up soon so we know what kind of space we need to hold his talk. Mike has over 44,000 fans on Facebook — make me feel like a schlump!

All this and more below, including other October highlights. Remember that Fall is a wonderful time to transition your health! Sign up for an Ayurvedic Consult with me in September or October and take $10 off of Ayurvedic Cooking class (October 9)! You’ll be amazed at how small changes can have dramatic results.

See our entire newsletter, including events here: http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs009/1101497121160/archive/1107400722380.html

And here’s your Ella photo of the week:

Ella says, where did summer go?

It’s still nice and bright in breathe books. We have about 25 people upstairs in second wind at an IONS meeting and another 10 or so are in breathing space for meditation tonight. I took in some BNotes today (our new local currency) and our psychic readers are booked up for the next week. It feels good in here…in the little breathe books world!

But as the planet goes through these massive shifts (perhaps pre-cursors and transformations leading to Dec. 2012) I’m trying to create my world exactly as I want it to be. That is why I’m having a Town Hall Meeting on Thursday, August 25 at 7:30 p.m. to talk about the future of breathe books. It is my intention to find an individual, or a group of people, to partner with me so that we can grow breathe books and its programs.

Among the most popular events at breathe books are the Ayurvedic classes, consults, workshops and retreats — here — and other places around the region. I want to continue to grow this side of the business, which teaches people how to take their health and well-being into their own hands through nutrition, creating a healthy and detoxifying daily routine, meditation and yoga, among other life-style changes.

I also love love love taking people on trips to sacred sites around the world. Our trip to India in November already has 11 people signed up! I would love to have the time to travel more and show people the world through spiritual eyes.

But I also love love love breathe books!! So I’m trying to figure out a way to keep a presence in the shop while doing what I do best for me and hopefully beneficial to the community. It seems this can be accomplished by partnering with someone who loves the store as I do, and wants to create a niche for themselves, which would allow me time to teach and travel, while they establish themselves in breathe books, creating an even stronger presence in the community and the independent bookselling world.

Does this sound good to you? Let’s talk about it! I look forward to hearing what our customers have to say. The book world is changing daily. With the closure of Border’s, perhaps “small and independent” may be the way to go! We can shift more easily with the times, we are in better contact with our customers and community, and can respond faster to what you want and need.

Feel free to contact me anytime for more information on partnering with breathe books. I’m in the exploratory phase, but I thought I’d let you in on it!

love,

Susan

p.s. to all who have emailed me about Ella — here is your picture of the week!

Ella and me relaxing on Sunday.  Photo by Larry B.

So I just have to do what I do best (and I’m constantly re-evaluating that!) What is it that we do best at breathe and how do we monetize that so that I can pay the rent, pay my staff and make a living for myself and be around to create more?

I’m working on the answer to these questions and would love to hear your thoughts (email me at susan@breathebooks.com or comment here).

Our comfy little shop is the fertile ground upon which so many interesting things grow. As many of you know, breathe books has presented me with several life-changing gifts over the years, including meeting my husband Larry and our new puppy Ella Shakti!

Ella Shakti Weis-Bohlen

So while I try to figure out the new economic reality and what it means to you and me, I can also just play with my puppy.

After we got her, the book by Eckhart Tolle, Guardians of Beings, kept coming into my mind. I took it home and read it the other day – tears filled my eyes. My little puppy is here with us for so many reasons – our little Guardian of Being who teaches us to constantly be in the moment. I think all she remembers of the past is how warm her mommy felt, and how safe she kept her. Her thoughts of the future are probably more of that – can I snuggle with mommy and daddy? Will they keep me warm and fed? Can I run around a lot today? She looks at us with those amazingly human eyes and just exudes love and gratitude. I try to shine those feelings right back to her.

Stay in the moment. Everything is fine right here. It will all work out as long as we keep doing the best we can…I want to do the best for my husband, my puppy, the store and the community. And, oh yeah, and me too! So I’m going to play with my puppy now.

Dear breathe books customer,

I need your help.

Throughout the almost six years since I opened breathe books we’ve been quite successful. We attract authors and presenters from around the world, we have turned a profit every year since we opened, and we hired Jenn Northington as full-time manager late last year.  It is a good business. Classes are often full and people show a great interest in our programs, but the truth of the matter is that people are simply not buying as much as they used to.

Still we have had such wonderful success, but I am not immune to the current economic situation. It’s become increasingly difficult to keep cash flow at a level to cover operating costs. That money allows us to pay presenters to come to breathe, and to stock the great variety of books, music, gifts and other items on our shelves, drawing a diverse group of customers. Inventory is a major investment.

To address this we’re doing something that may sound counter-intuitive: we’re going to expand. I believe that I need to bring you more of what you want.  In order to adapt to this new reality, breathe books is launching an expansion program.

The expansion plans include diversification of products, the addition of new classes, and ultimately the purchase a beautiful space to hold more classes, workshops, concerts, cooking classes and more. Here is where we need your help.  In order to finance the new business plan, we are starting a community investment program, modeled after a successful program in Brooklyn where the community recently supported the creation of a new bookstore in their neighborhood.

So I’m asking you today to help breathe books thrive as a center of community and learning. You can either donate money, invest in the store and receive interest on your principal (2% – 4% – you choose your interest), or purchase gift cards that never expire but have a start date one-year from purchase. Rather than having money sit in a CD in a bank, every time you come to breathe you will actually see your money at work. This is not only an investment in breathe books, it’s an investment in our community.

Please let me know if you are interested in learning more.  I’d be happy to send you the promissory note, investor’s agreement, and a business disclosure form, per Maryland State law. And of course I’d be happy to talk to you about how we will use the money raised in order to create a deeper foundation for the bookstore and continue to offer classes, books, products and experiences that enrich us all.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this letter and for considering becoming a breathe books community investor!

With much love and gratitude,

Susan L. Weis

proprietress, breathe books, LLC